River near Mingatua Junction, W. R. B. Oliver; Castle Hill Hotel, L. Cockayne, No. 1601; North Poulter, 900 m. L. Cockayne No. 1621; Dunedin, D. Petrie; Bluff, J. Crosby Smith. Herb. Auckland Museum: 2583 Rangipo Desert, swamp at foot of Mt. Ruapehu, H. Tryon; 2594 Lake Rotoiti, Nelson, T. F. Cheeseman; 2596 Lake Tekapo, T. F. C.; 2598 Gimmerburn, B. C. Aston; 2599 Lawrence, Otago, D. Petrie No. 31. Herb. Canterbury Museum: Marlborough, J. H. McMahon; Waimarino, A. Wall. Type: Herb. Auckland Museum No. 2596 from Lake Tekapo, 2,500 feet, collected by T. F. Cheeseman, January, 1883. This specimen or a duplicate thereof was sent to Kukenthal as representing C. ternaria var. pallida and must therefore be taken as conforming to Cheeseman's concept of his variety. Mr. R. Cooper has previously selected this specimen as the type in a published list of types in the Auckland Museum Herbarium (Rec. Auckl. Inst. Mus. 3:6 (1949) 399). Kukenthal confined his concept to the form with pale glumes but I have included in the above species the much commoner dark-glumed form. Cheeseman apparently adopted the name on account of the pale spikelets, the colour being due to the yellowish utricles, which, when ripe, almost completely hide the glumes. C. coriacea is a most distinct plant in the field with its long rhizomes, tufted habit and broad strict leaves. On the banks of watercourses the rhizomes ramify through the soil at a depth of up to 20 cm. giving a dense stand which contributes very considerably to preventing erosion of the soil. The spikelets are usually completely hidden by the leaves and it is possible to walk through a stand without seeing them even though the plants are in full flower or fruit. The species is illustrated by Boott (Ill. Car. iv (1867) t. 597 on left-hand side of plate) on the same plate as his C. ternaria var. minor and apparently including it but, as the illustrations show, the two plants are quite distinct. C. t. var. minor forma nigrescens Kukenth. in Engler's Pflanzenr. Heft 38 (1909) 369, based on a single specimen (Cockayne No. 1535) from Arthur Pass, is of rather doubtful validity. A specimen, possibly a duplicate, in Herb. Auckland Museum, is very immature and the utricle characters cannot be determined. The glumes are black, larger than in C. coriacea and with a red midrib which is produced into a long awn. equalling or exceeding the glume length. The vegetative characters agree with C. coriacea. It may be an aberrant form but much more material will be necessary before an opinion can be formed. The name C. coriacea is proposed as the combination C. pallida is invalidated by C. pallida C. A. Mey. Acknowledgments The author wishes to thank the following for their valuable assistance during the course of this study:— The Directors and staff of the Dominion, Auckland and Canterbury Museums for permission to examine and borrow specimens; successive Directors of the Botany Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and staff for assistance and encouragement; Mr. V. D. Zotov for personal advice and assistance in the examination of material and preparation of the manuscript.